Shock absorber for garment presses



July 7, 1925'. S l 1,544,815

- W. COLCLOUGH SHOCK ABSORBER FOR GARMENT PRESSES Filed Deo. 16I 1920 NVENTOR BY Mw A TTORNE Y.

Patented July 7, 1925..

UNITED STATES 1,544,815 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM COLCLOUGI-I, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY

T0 THE AMERICAN LAUNDRY SIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF DIRECT AND MESNE AS- MACHINERY COMPANY,

OF NORWOOD, OHIO, A CORPORATION 0F OHIO, AND ONE-HALF TO METROPOLITAN TRUST COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK, TRUSTEE.

SHOCK ABSORBER FOR GARMENT PRESSES.

Application filed December 16, 1920. Serial No. 431,169.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM CoLoLoUGH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Norwood, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock Absorbers for Garment Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cushioning devices for garment pressing machines. The object of the invention is to provide an improved cushioning device for relieving the shock ordinarily produced when the operating parts of the mechanism move .toward open or released position, and particularly such a device which is automatic in operation, simple in construction, which can be readily applied to forms of presses n ow in use, and which does not interfere with or complicate other parts of the mechanism.

Other ob'ects of the invention will appear from the ollowing description and claims when considered together with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the garment press with parts broken away to show the shock absorber; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section in the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the shock absorber, with part of the frame of the press broken away; and Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of the s hock absorber in the plane of line 4-4 of Figs. 2 and 3.

Although capable of application to other presses, it is here shown in connection with the type of press disclosed in the application of William E. Andree, Serial No. 336,575, filed November 8,1919.

The main frame 1 supports the pedestal 2 upon which is supported the buck or lower press member 3. The upper press member 4 is carried upon the end of the lever arm 5 ivotally mounted at 6 upon the bracket arm 7 of the frame. The lever arm 5 is connected at the pivot point 8 with the operating arm 9 which in turn has pivotal connectionv at 10 with one end of the toggle lever mechanism comprisin the links 11 and 12K. These links are pivota y connected at 13, while. the link member 12 forms one end of a bell cranklever which is pivotally mounted at 14 upon the frame and whose other end 15 has pivotal connection with the upwardly extending connecting rod 16. The rod 16 is pivotally connected at its lower end, as at 17, to the treadle lever 18, which in turn is rockably mounted upon the-shaft 19 in the frame. A spring 20 whose ends are connected to the lever arm 5 and the base of the frame, respectively, as indicated in the drawings, normally tends to raise the upper press member away from the buck. The type of machine thus far described as already known in the art and it will be readily understood that upon pressing treadle 21 the upper press member 4 will be lowered by the straightening ofthe toggle lever against the tension of spring 20; and in` order to release the upper press member pressure is applied'to the release treadle 22, whereupon the press is opened by the force of the spring 20.

In order to overcome the shock to the mechanism caused by the sudden and forceful opening ofthe press by the spring 20, I have provided the following means for absorbing such shock and for insuring a quiet and gradual decrease in the speed of the upper press member durmg its opening operation until it comes to a full stop.

The bracket 23 is detachably mounted upon the base portion of the frame indicated at 24 by means of the conical pointed set screws 25. Upon the bracket 23 there is pivotally mounted at 26 the shock lever 27 which is.provided at its free end with a longitudinal slot 28 through which extends the stud 29. This stud 29 has screw thread enga ement with the collar 30 on the shaft 19, pin 29a providing a detachable lock for these two parts. Stud 29 is surrounded by the coil spring 31 which abuts at one end against the disk 32 bearing against the shock lever 27 and at its other,` end against the disk 33. Slot 28 allows proper play between lever 27 and stud 29. By means of the nuts 34on the stud 29 the tension of the spring can be regulated, and hence'the degree of compression is predetermined according to conditions` The degree of opening of the press is also controlled by this means. A web portion 35 extends between the arms of the treadle lever 18 and is adapted during opening movement of the press to contactthe under face of the shock lever 27 and in this way to cause actuation of the shock absorbing mechanism; that is to say, upon actualever pivotally tion of the release treadle 22 main treadle 18 Will rise by force of the spring 20, whereupon the shock lever 27 When actuated by the Web portion 35 will cause compression of the spring 31.

It is thought that the operation of the above described mechanism and the advantages flowing therefrom will be apparent. Notably among the advantages -is that which resides in the fact that the shock'absorbing means here described is detachable and can be applied to garment presses now in use. Furthermore, the mechanism involved in my shock absorbing device is of asimple nature and hence not costly to manufacture and yet at the same time highly eiicient in its operation and not apt to get out of order in the use for which intended.

What I claim is:

l. A garment press comprising a frame, pressing members upon said frame, a lever having a portion extending substantially horizontally for operating said pressing members, and a cushioning device readily detachably mounted adjacent the pivot of said lever and lying in the path of movement of said horizontally extending portion of the lever so as to be actuated thereby and adapted to relieve the shock during the opening movement of the press.

2. A garment press comprising a frame, pressing members upon said frame', a lever for operating said pressing members, a shaft therefor, cushioning means detachably mounted upon said frame, and bearing upon said shaft, and means carried by said lever for actuating said cushioning means during the opening movement of the press.l

3. A garment press comprising a frame, pressing members--upon said frame, means for operating said pressing members including a pivoted lever, compression .means mounted at the pivot of said lever, a shock mounted on said frame and being adapted to actuate said compression means, and means carried by said first named lever adapted to actuate said shock lever during opening movement of said press.

4. In a garment press, a cushioning device including a bracket having means for attachment to a pressing machine, a shock lever pivoted upon said bracket, and a compression zmeans adapted for readily detachable connection to the machine, said shock lever being adapted to be actuated by the press operating means and to actuate said compression means during the opening movement of the press.

5. In a garment p-ress, a cushioning device including a bracket having means for attachment to a pressing machine, a shock lever pivoted upon said bracket and having an opening therein, and a compression means adapted for detachable connection through the .ope-ning' of said shock lever and to the machine, said shock lever being adapted to be actuated by the press operating means and to actuate said compression means during the opening movement of the press.

6. In a garment press embodying a frame, pressing members and operating means therefor, a cushioning device including a bracket having means for attachment to the frame, a shock lever pivoted upon said bracket, and a compression means adapted for detac-hable mounting upon a part of the press operating means, said shock lever being adapted to be actuated by the press operating means and to actuate said compression means during the opening movement 'of the press.

7. A garment press comprising a frame, pressing members upon said frame, a lever for operating said pressing members, a cushioning device mounted adjacent the pivot of said lever and lying in the path of movement of said lever so as to be actuated thereby, said cushioning device being adapted to relieve the shock during the opening movement of the press.

8. A garment press comprising a frame, pressing members upon said frame, lever mechanism including a treadle for operating said pressing members, and a cushioning de- -vice mounted! 'adjacent the pivot of said treadle and lying in the path of movement of said treadle so as to be actuated thereby, said cushioning device being adapted to relieve the shock during the opening movement of the press" 9. A garment press comprising a frame, pressing members upon said frame, means for operating said pressing members including a pivoted lever, compression means, a shock-lever pivotally mounted on said frame and adapted to actuate said :compression means, said first named pivoted lever being adapted to engage said shock lever adjacent the pivot of the former soas to eii'ect the actuation of the compression means by said shock lever and thereby relieve the shock during the opening movement of the ress.

In testimony whereof I 'hereby a x my signature.

WILLIAM COLCLOUGrH.v 

